Missing You
by Rember
Summary: Before, if you asked me, I would be the first to admit that I'm just another boring, average teenager. But that was before. Before the new student transfered in, and before he turned my life upside down. Now, I'm left wondering how much I had been wrong. OCxOC
1. A Change in the Winds

Summary: Before, if you asked me, I would be the first to admit that I'm just another boring, average teenager. (Except for the fact that I'm unusually bad a gym.) But that was before. Before the new student transfered in, and before he turned my life upside down. Now, I'm left wondering how much I had been wrong. OCxOC

**Disclaimer: I don't own Night World**

* * *

><p><span>Missing You<span>

Chapter 1: A Change in the Winds

[The Night World Series]

* * *

><p>It was February when it all began. I remember the date clearly because February is the month when there are still piles of snow on the sidewalks, yet at least half the kids in school wear summer clothing, either pretending not to notice the cold or the fact that it was <em>winter<em> just not getting through to their brains.

But, alas, I'm getting off topic.

It was the end of the day and I had just received my report card. I skimmed it over, not really surprised at the grades I had gotten. (An even mixture of B's and A's, in case you were wondering.) Although I did scowl a bit at the C, Ms. Reynolds, my gym teacher, had awarded me. Well, at least it wasn't a fail, right?

Underneath it, she had tacked on a little comment: _Effort needs improvement_.

Thanks but no thanks and that was a nice thought, Ms. Reynolds, but I was one of those girls who have to watch from the sidelines. Sitting or standing. Occasionally lying down, just to mix things up a bit. Let me explain. If I _had_ tried to participate, people would've been embarrassed by my embarrassments. Literally. I was that bad. The hand-eye-coordination thing just wasn't there.

"How did you do?" Cassie asked, a girl who I shared Science and Homeroom with and had become a sort of friendly acquaintance with.

I turned to smile at her. Cassie was short, cute, and nerdy in the mildest possible way. I mean, she definitely wasn't _geeky_, but had a kind of. . . book-ish look to her, I guess. It must be her insane quietness. (I'm not exaggerating; she was so quiet that I didn't begin talking to her until mid-October. School started in the beginning of September.) Or it could be the glasses she wore; the lenses covered half her face.

"Okay," I said vaguely, not really wanting to go into the details. Thankfully, Cassie wasn't the type to push. She nodded and smiled a bit. "What about you?" I directed the subject away from myself.

"Okay," she echoed my reply. I wondered if she was hiding anything (like me and my too-close-to-a-failing-grade in gym) or just didn't want to show off, in that quiet way of hers. But I didn't prod, returning the favor that she had given me earlier. We smiled politely at each other, and she shyly waved as she left.

As I walked to my locker, I wasn't the least bit surprised to have a brown haired girl nearly crash into me. I dodged her by less than a centimeter - an inch is too large of a unit of measurement to use to describe it. How had I dodged her, you ask? Certainly not from my failures of athletic abilities. As you might have guessed, it was from pure experience alone. I'd seriously lost count of how many times she'd knocked me over in the hallways.

"Ohmygosh, _May_! I finally found you - you would not _believe_ what I've heard! I literally, like, ran here to tell you!" she gasped.

I looked in the direction that she came from and saw a clean line of knocked over teenagers, still groaning as they tried to stand up again. She _ran_ here? It looked like she pretended she was bowling: our classmates as the pins, and herself as the bowling ball.

I continued to head toward the direction of my locker, "Hey Karin, what did you hear this time?"

"You don't sound very excited," my best friend huffed, jogging to catch up with me.

"That is because I'm not," I deadpanned. I finally reached my locker and opened it with three quick turns. 13-18-21. "You run to me every day saying you've heard something I can't believe."

Karin looked a little forlorn for a moment, but bounced back into her overly energetic mode almost immediately. "Fine, fine. I admit your comment has a _grain_ - a grain! No more! - of truth in it. But I bet that this will make you completely and utterly shocked."

I spared her a glance and raised my eyebrows, feigning interest. Not needing a single encouragement more, she eagerly launched into an elaborate account of what had taken place about an hour ago. I had been impressed with her journalist abilities of remembering exactly what people have said and the detailed way she describes her 'witnessed adventures'. The _first_ time. Then the magic had kind of worn off, especially since she told me "something you wouldn't believe" at least every other day. And 99% of it wasn't even interesting. (I mean, sure, Ryan had finally worked up the courage to ask Olivia out, and she said yes. But seriously? He was a boy, she was a girl, and it was bound to happen someday.)

"So right before last period which, by the way, was Math for me, I almost ran in to Mr. Fennel and our _principal_, Mr. Matthews," Karin paused for a reaction, and I 'hmm'ed a bit as if confused, but kept my hands busy by gathering up my things. Satisfied, she continued, "So, of course, I was curious, and I slow down as I walked by them. Slow enough to listen to their conversation but not slow enough to be weird, y'know?

"Our principal was in the middle of saying something, and he was like, ' - know you feel strongly against this, but it goes against all regulations to petition against any student who is going to transfer in simply because of mere prejudices.'

"And then Mr. Fennel got really quiet - but he was obviously still angry - and just said calmly, 'Mr. Matthews.'

"Then our principal went completely silent, but then went really weird. He said, 'I cannot do that,' as if Mr. Fennel had said something, except the crazy thing is, is that he _didn't_. Then Mr. Fennel started freaking out, but one of those creepy, silent freak-outs where he didn't move or make a sound, but I could just _tell_ that he was, like, fighting a war inside his head or something."

Karin paused to catch her breath, and I blinked. Wow. That was actually really interesting. Not to mention creepy. I realized that I had actually stopped packing my stuff to listen to her story. With renewed vigor, I tried to cram everything into my obviously too-small bag again. "What happened after that?" I panted, but asking in genuine curiosity this time.

Karin grinned, she knew she had me hooked now, "Well, then I had to get to class really fast 'cause that damn buzzer - the bane of my existance, I tell you! - rang and I knew I had to get to class really fast. I was just lucky The Witch wasn't there, though, so she couldn't tell me I was late. Hah! But I think that was the end of their little conversation anyways."

I nodded, and noticed for the first time that she already had her bag packed and ready to leave. "So we're gonna have a transfer student, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so! Transfer students sound so cool, they're almost always mysterious and stuff. At least that's how they always are in books and stuff," Karyn babbled excitedly.

"That's only in books, and books always make them good-looking," I argued, "plus, he's probably not even gonna be in our class. I mean, aren't there, like, a friggin' _ton_ of other classes in the sophmore year? It's unlikely he'll end up in one of our classes. And by the way, is the transfer student a he or a she?"

Karin shrugged, "I dunno but..."

We share a mischievious grin, "I hope it's a he!"

"I mean, seriously! We don't have any half-decent guys in our school!" Karin complained. Oh jeez, she was on _this_ rant again. The best thing to do was just wait it out. We were shoved ungracefully out of the school by students who were eager to leave the prison-like building. I honestly couldn't blame them.

" - and none of them have any_ manners_ these days - "

"I rode my bike today."

" - where has chivalry gone? _Aw_, you did?"

"Yeah, sorry. I always run late, though, so I have to ride to get here on time," I explained apologetically.

Karin smiled, "I know. But I'll call you later, 'kay?"

"Mmkay then. Bye, seeya tomorrow!"

"By-y-ye!"

I spotted my dark red bike, waiting patiently among the other bikes on the rack, immediately. I buckled my helmet on and swung on to the seat immediately, not needing to unlock it. I never had the time to lock up my bike in the mornings. Pedaling off home, I wondered briefly about Karin's creepy encounter with Mr. Fennel and Mr. Matthews. Even more briefly, I wondered about the coming transfer student.

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed!<p>

-Rember


	2. A Tardy for Two

Missing You

Chapter 2: A Tardy for Two

[The Night World Series]

* * *

><p>The weekend passed quickly for me, as usual. Too quickly. It's quite irritating, actually, especially since it's only over those two days that I can actually get a decent night's rest.<p>

So without warning, it was suddenly late Sunday night, and I was in my absolute freak-out mode because I just realized I had a three-page English essay due on Wednesday.

And I hadn't even started the outline.

Basically, I was completely and utterly screwed.

I swore, and started to crumple the assignment out of frustration before I realized that I actually needed it for the instructions. I swore again (that was just for good measure) and dialed Karin's number. I could have pressed 1—or was it 2?—for the speed dial, but I was already so familiar with her number that it was faster just to dial it out than try to remember which number I had to press for speed dial.

_Ring_

Stupid technology. Half the population didn't even know how to use the new-fangled contraptions.

_Ring_

"Pick up, pick up, pick up!" I muttered.

_Ri—_

"Hello?"

"Karin!" I half-screeched, then remembered that my parents were probably already asleep and my younger brother in bed. I lowered my voice, "Karin, I'm in deep trouble. You know that outline for English?"

"That one? Of course. Mrs. Reddy reminded us, like, fifty times last week to finish it by tomorrow."

I winced. My participation grade in that class probably needs some improvement. "Does that mean that you've already done it?"

"Yeah, I finished it when it was fist assigned," she paused and with a hint of amusement added, "let me guess—you didn't do it?"

"Not quite yet," I said sheepishly. "Can I—"

"Copy mine?" Karin cut in sweetly.

"Funny, that's exactly what I was going to say," I said and heard Karin's laugh, which was slightly tinny over the phone.

"Really? Then yes, of course you can. It's the least I could do for my best friend and the girl who saved me from getting F's all those times."

I grinned, that was another particularly admirable quality about Karin. She had an unerring sense of honesty. I can't remember a single debt she hadn't repaid or a single promise that she broke.

"Thank you so much! You are a life saver, I swear. A hero in a past life," I gushed, trying to drown her in praise.

"Yeah, yeah. Save it for later, May," Karin joked, brushing off the compliments. "You can copy it over our lunch period. Lucky you have English last."

It seemed that the moment I fell asleep, the irritating beep of my alarm woke me up.

Groaning, I blindly felt around my bedside table, knocking over a few anonymous objects until finally reaching the source of the noise. I managed to hit a button that stopped the offending noises of my clock and turned over, hoping to catch a few extra minutes of blessed sleep.

Ten minutes later, it started to beep again. With considerably more force and better aim, I cuffed the infuriating clock and stopped the racket.

Another—regrettable—ten minutes later, the alarm rang. This time, I pried my eyes open in annoyance. Through my hazy, half-awake eyesight, I read the time.

7:05

My previous state grogginess morphed from sleepy exasperation to adrenalized distress. I cursed (I seemed to be doing that a lot in the past twenty-four hours) and literally fell out of bed in my haste to get up.

My school had two 'bells' in the morning. One rang at 7:10 as a warning for the students to at least start _thinking_ about beginning the venture towards homeroom. It was quite misleading because the second one rang only five minutes later, and it signified that they were dead late if they weren't in homeroom yet at 7:15.

And it was _7:00 _right then.

I had to bike a mile to school.

Hopefully tardiness doesn't lower your GPA too much…

I grabbed a random set of clothes, barely even looking at them, and changed out of my pajamas. And presto, I was down the stairs and ready (well, somewhat presentable, at least) at 7:07.

"Breakfast?" My mother asked, taking in the appearance of my flushed face and rumpled clothing with a silent but disapproving look.

"Sorry, no time!" I threw the words over my shoulder, and raced past my family, heading for the door to the garage. Along the way I remembered to snatch my bag, coat, and helmet.

_Thank whoever's up there for the idea of getting my stuff together yesterday_.

I opened the garage with a press of a button and pedaled away, with one hand fumbling to snap my helmet straps shut.

It was exactly six minutes later (hey, there's a bit of a hill!) when I arrived at the front of the school. I rode right up to the bike racks and wrenched the kickstand out. Without bothering to lock the bike up (usually, it blends in with the other locked bikes and nobody notices it) I sprinted into the school.

I burst into homeroom right when the second bell rang. Mr. Moss—my homeroom teacher, of course—frowned disapprovingly.

"You're late," he acknowledged.

Meekly, I ducked my head to avoid eye-contact that would give away my resentment. After all, I came right on the bell, didn't I? To make things worse, I heard a few of the exceptionally brainless members of the class snigger.

"You," Mr. Moss shifted his frown to someone behind me. I risked a quick glance up at him, and I noticed that his frown deepened, if possible. "You are late, as well."

I turned to see who my moody teacher was outright glowering at and almost hit the guy with my shoulder. I took a few surprised steps backwards and met his gaze.

There were two things I noticed immediately in the brief moment that we made eye contact.

One: blue.

That was a very obvious and very stupid observation, because he did have blue eyes, and we did just make eye contact.

However, at the same time, it was also a very striking point. Not because of the color, in particular but because of the very fact I noticed it. I'm not a very observant person, not like Karin, so generally I wouldn't remember a small detail like someone's eye color.

Yet the very first thing that made an impression on me was the color of his eyes.

Two: recognition.

A thrill when we made eye-contact caused my heart to constrict.

And more than that, I felt a sort of familiarity. Like that person I've seen in the hallways but never actually known. Except…different. I didn't recognize him in any way, but there was that niggling sense that we've met.

Flustered, I broke eye contact with the sort-of-stranger and looked for my seat. Only when I was safely past Mr. Moss and away from the stranger, I allowed myself to take a good look at him.

So, he had an odd combination of pale skin, blue eyes, and black hair. In normal cases, I think it would just come off as geeky, and to top it that off, he was tall. Somehow, though, he managed to pull it off. He looked well-bred and regal.

"Excuse me, but my name is Zephyr Uncia. I am the new transfer student."

A few girlish gasps were sounded around the class. Murmuring noises started up and swelled in volume the minute Zephyr mentioned that he was the transfer student. A pair of blue eyes darted around the room and took it in with a hint of amusement.

It almost reminded me of a cat. Too proud and regal for the likes of common people, they were merely toys in his perspective.

Mr. Moss looked at the class with a loosely restrained annoyance, hearing the commotion and not liking it, "A transfer student, and late on your first day. Detention, both of you."

"What!" I couldn't contain my anger this time. "That's completely unfair—I wasn't even late!"

"I wasn't familiar with the school layout." The statement was _almost_ said defensively, but not quite. There was no whining fluctuation; a cat doesn't beg.

Mr. Moss glanced at the new student with displeasure, "You came after the second bell. Detention. Lunch period. Find me in this room."

I shot a panicked look across the room over to Karin, who returned it helplessly.

"Now for seating…Zephyr Uncia, sit, oh I don't know," Mr. Moss carelessly glimpsed at the classroom and pointed at the first empty desk he saw. "Over there."

My heart stuttered when he pointed towards me. It took a moment for me to realize that he was actually pointing behind me. There was an empty desk right behind me.

It took another moment for me to put the two and two together.

Zephyr Uncia, the new transfer student, would be sitting right behind me.

* * *

><p>Hope you liked it! Comment if you did (and even if you didn't.)<p>

-Rember


	3. A Troubling Coincidence

Missing You

Chapter 3: A Troubling Coincidence

[The Night World Series]

* * *

><p>"I hate that teacher," I fumed, as soon as the bell released us from the torture called homeroom.<p>

"Mm-hm," Karin nodded absent-mindedly, not really paying attention.

"I'm serious! I was literally inside the room when the bell rang—you saw me, right? Plus, it's awful that, of all days I get a detention, it's the day I have to do that English outline!"

"Well I can give you my outline right now, and you can copy it throughout the day," Karin suggested.

I paused in my rant and grinned at my best friend, "That's actually a good idea. At least, it's worth a try. Thanks so much, Karin."

"No problem, now wait just a sec…my outline is around here…" Karin stopped in the middle of the hallway, and shuffled around in her binder, "Yup, right here. There you go."

I accepted the paper, "Alright then, I'm going to Math class. I'll give this back to you right before English."

"Right, and don't you dare forget. And before you go—you know that I'm totally jealous of you right now?" She was smiling as she said this, so I knew she was joking.

"Oh yeah," I smirked and looked at Karin knowingly, "no more worries about the new student being ugly, huh? His name is—Zeffy? No, Zephyr?"

"Yeah. Zephyr. Worries about him being ugly—hah!—definitely _not_! Don't you think so too?" Karin asked excitedly.

"Well, yeah," I admitted, a bit of heat rushed to my face as I recalled the look I shared with him.

"You're so lucky about that detention," Karin went on, "if I were you, I wouldn't have complained."

"Excuse me? Did you just say what I think you said? Did you not hear my whole rant about how that detention is not a good thing for me? And how unfair it was?"

"Oh come on, May! Think about it—during detention, it'll just be _you_ and _Zephyr_," Karin said exasperatedly. "Do I have to spell it out for you? It an opportunity in a freaking _lifetime_. All the girls in our class are dying of jealousy."

I shook my head, but now that she mentioned it…"Well, see you. We need to get to class."

Karin sighed and shook her head in mock despair, but waved at me as she left. I sent a last glance back at her before I entered room 210, my math class...and nearly had a heart attack when I saw him.

Three guesses who it was.

One…

Two…

Three…

Probably only needed one, right?

Yep, it was Zephyr Uncia himself.

I bravely tried to ignore him, but it was unbearably difficult. He was new and interesting, with an undeniably impossible-to-ignore feeling around him. When I arrived at my seat in the back of the class, I finally gave in and looked up.

I almost choked when I saw that he was looking at me too. With an oddly perplexed and upset expression on his face. We locked eyes again. And again I felt a strange tingle of recognition that made me shiver. It was that feeling that you get when you have a word at the tip of your tongue, but you just can't remember it enough to actually say it. Yeah, that feeling. I couldn't tell whether I liked the feeling or not.

"Alright, class! It's time to start, get to you seats!" Mrs. Reza shouted, and we quickly looked away from each other, "As you all have probably noticed, today we have a transfer student. His name is Zephyr Uncia. Now, Zephyr, please introduce yourself. Any questions for him can be asked personally after class."

A few sniggers were heard at the word 'personally', but stopped immediately when Zephyr started to speak, "As you have heard, my name is Zephyr Uncia. I am from Minnesota and came here because my parents got a job here."

It was the second time I had heard his voice—third, actually, if you counted the times he spoke in homeroom as twice—but I was still awestruck by it. Unfortunately, I could tell (all too well) that most of the female population in the classroom was captivated as well. To our defense, I'll say that it really wasn't hard to be awed by it. Smooth, deep, and confident, it was perfection. It would sound good in any situation, probably even an embarrassing one.

"Right then, Zephyr. You can sit by the window, in that open seat," Mrs. Reza instructed, "Leyla, you can help Zephyr get settled in. Now let's pick up on yesterday's lesson…"

Leyla looked thrilled, excitedly opening her notebook and eagerly sharing her notes to Zephyr. He looked slightly aggravated as she chattered to him nonstop, even after Mrs. Reza told her repeatedly to quiet down. I tried to ignore Leyla's constant talking, but found myself more annoyed by it than I should have been.

The hour passed by quickly, split between sneaking quick glances at Zephyr when I thought he wasn't looking, and valiantly trying to copy Karin's outline unnoticeably. I also worried about that irritated expression that he wore when he looked at me. Had I already done something to bother him…?

"Okay then, to wrap it up, the homework tonight is to finish the packet I gave you!" Mrs. Reza announced as the class ended.

I sighed, and stuffed the packet (a thick one that I hadn't even gotten halfway through yet…probably due to using the time in class to copy that outline) into roughly the 'homework' section of her binder. As I left the classroom, I kept my eyes averted as I passed Zephyr.

Two times of those weird shivers were enough; I wasn't going to try for a third.

I arrived at Science, after stopping by her locker for the Chemistry textbook. He was there…again.

I shook my head, hard.

_It's just a coincidence_, I reassured myself, trying not to hyperventilate. After all, it was only out of, what, around 15 other classes that he could have had…

_And he got this one._

However, Science class passed rather uneventfully. It was actually pretty much a repeat of Math. Just switch the desks for lab tables, Mrs. Reza for Mr. Fennel, and Leyla for a painfully shy genius named Michel.

Spanish class was normal as well, other than the fact that _he _was in _that_ class too. That time I couldn't shake it off as a fluke as easily. But I managed.

The clock ticked to 12:15, and the bell ended Spanish class.

_Lunch!_ I thought eagerly, but a split second later I remembered the detention I had with Mr. Moss. Just thinking about that man made my happiness drain away immediately.

Nothing was worse than a detention with a grumpy teacher.

Except maybe a detention with a grumpy teacher, a new kid who's insanely good-looking and makes your heart beat hysterically, and a best friend who's jealous of your detention.

I sighed and walked reluctantly towards my homeroom.

"Put your bags on my desk. Yes, right there. Now go to your seats and sit there for the entire lunch period. Yes, May, you can eat you lunch. And no, you can't talk. I have to go to a school meeting so Mrs. Reynolds next door will be listening in. She'll tell me if you two do any funny business. So if you do, I'll know and you'll get another detention. Maybe even a talk with the principal too," Mr. Moss warned, sending a final glare at Zephyr before leaving the room.

The room was silent.

_...And Karin was jealous of _this_? _I thought incredulously, wincing when I opened my paper bag and it made an awkwardly loud crinkling sound.

Zephyr was silent behind me.

* * *

><p>I had been really angry at that teacher then. It seemed that the worst thing in my life was to have an adult punish me for something that I wasn't really at fault for.<p>

Looking back at it now, I suppose I should thank him. Even though it was designed to be a spiteful punishment, it was one of those quiet, isolated moments that I am able to cherish and remember.

* * *

><p>I hope you liked this chapter!<p>

-Rember


End file.
